FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported yesterday that the Mariners were showing “strong interest” in free agents Fernando Rodney and Nelson Cruz. From what Jim Bowden of ESPN.com and MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM is hearing, it sounds like they could be getting serious about signing one of them:

Of course, that the Mariners are interested in Cruz isn’t really news. Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik admitted as much during the team’s recent fan fest, but he also expressed concern about salary demands and the draft pick compensation factor. The Mariners have already given up their second-round pick for Robinson Cano, so signing Cruz would cost them their third-round pick. Keep in mind that they would also give up the draft pool money associated with each pick.

Bowden wrote earlier this afternoon that the Orioles and Rangers are also in the mix for Cruz. However, the Rangers are mostly being viewed as a fallback option in the event that his market completely collapses. Spring training is just a couple of weeks away, so something will have to give soon.